Saturday, 9 July 2016

Daily Current Affairs Update (9th July 2016)

Centre has constituted a cyber cell to check the online abuse and harassment of women and children on social media platforms.

Women and Child Development Ministery has taken the decision as it has got several complaints from women.

The Ministry will not be policing the internet and it will only examine the complaints.

The move came in the wake of reported increase in abuse or harassment of women on social media.

The complaints received by the Ministry, which are of a grave nature, will be reported to Twitter India for necessary action.

2. Radhika Menon: First woman to receive Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea:

Radhika Menon will become the first woman in the world to receive the Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea for 2016, from the International Maritime Organisation.

Captain Menon was nominated by the Government of India, for the rescue of all seven fishermen from the fishing boat Durgamma, which was adrift following engine failure and loss of anchor in severe weather.

The Awards ceremony is set to take place at IMO Headquarters in London, on 21 November.

She is the first woman captain of the Indian Merchant Navy and will be the first female to receive the Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea.

3. NATO Summit begins in Warsaw :

The NATO summit has begun in Warsaw, Poland.

In the two day Summit, the leaders of the 28 NATO Allies and many partner nations will deliberate and take decisions to enhance the Alliance’s security by strengthening its deterrence and defence, and projecting stability beyond its borders.

On the heels of a U.S. announcement to keep 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, NATO leaders will discuss key security topics. Issues such as continuing support for Afghan forces, defeating Islamic State militants on NATO’s southern flank and deterring Russian aggression on the alliance’s eastern flank will be discussed.

4. Kerala Government imposes 14.5% fat tax on junk food:

The Kerala government has announced to impose 14.5 % tax on junk food on the lines of ‘Fat Tax’ imposed on such food items.

This will make food items like burgers, pizzas, pasta costlier.

The need for the so-called ‘fat tax’ is explained by the fact the state currently has the second-highest obesity rate for children in India.

Kerala authorities are also looking to earn over 100 million rupees as a result of the levy.

5. Nirmala Sitharaman to lead business delegation to Russia:

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lead a delegation of over 110 Indian companies that will showcase their engineering prowess at a trade fair in Russia.

India is the partner country for 'INNOPROM 2016', which is the largest annual international industrial trade fair of Russia.

The 4-day fair starts from the coming sunday (10th july) in Ekaterinburg.

Apart from the large, medium and small Indian companies participating in the event, states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are also going to showcase their industrial strengths.

6. DRDO inks pact with IITs for Centre for Propulsion Technology:

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed an agreement with IIT-Bombay and Madras to establish a bi-nodal ‘Centre of Propulsion Technology’ (CoPT) at the two institutions.

The initiative is aimed at achieving synergy between DRDO and IITs for channelising the research efforts towards developing products and technologies.

The Centre will evolve mechanisms to facilitate execution of programmes related to propulsion technology and will engage both IITs as primary research nodes.

It will also undertake advanced collaborative research in the areas of critical defence technologies.

7. Sanjay Gupta named CMD of Konkan Railway:

Sanjay Gupta has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL).

Prior to his elevation, he was working as Director (Operating and Commercial) of KRCL.

Mr. Gupta has worked on several prestigious and coveted posts as well as on various assignments over the Railways and has more than 30 years of experience as a Mechanical Officer of Indian Railways.

8. Vishal Kapoor to be the new CEO of IDFC MF:

IDFC Mutual Fund has announced the appointment of Mr. Vishal Kapoor as its chief executive officer.

Kapoor will be responsible for driving the accelerated growth of IDFC AMC.

He will take charge from September this year.

At present, He is working with Standard Chartered Bank as the managing director and head of wealth management for India business.

9. Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft Kelvin Turner has resigned:

Kevin Turner has resigned as the Chief Operating Officer ( COO) of Microsoft with effect from 31 July 2016.

Kelvin was handling Microsoft's enormous sales operations. He had been at Microsoft for 11 years. Prior to Microsoft, Turner spent nearly 20 years at Wal-Mart Stores, where he rose through the ranks and was the youngest corporate officer ever at age 29.

He would now be joining Citadel Securities as Chief Executive Officer.

10. Phiroz Vandrevala steps down as TCS director:

The country’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services stated that its non-Executive Director Phiroz Vandrevala has resigned from the company. However, Vandrevala, also the Vice-Chairman and MD of Diligenta, a TCS subsidiary, will continue with this role.

Phiroz Vandrevala has relinquished office of Non Executive Director of the company, due to personal reasons, with effect. He had been a director on the TCS board since September 2007.

With over 25 years of consulting and leadership experience with TCS, Vandrevala had been involved in TCS’ foray into the life and pension industry at the outset and has also overseen the transformation of the UK—based Diligenta.